New York Islanders The pressing questions facing Islanders with post-Olympics sprint to finish set to begin By Ethan Sears Published Feb. 25, 2026, 8:08 p.m. ET Bo Horvat in action with Radko Gudas of the Czech Republic during Canada's win in the Olympic men's ice hockey quarterfinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Amber Searls-Imagn Images Well, that was a fun few weeks. Now it is back to reality for the Islanders, who are — yes, that’s right — hanging onto a playoff spot by a four-point margin as they resume the NHL season in Montreal on Thursday night.
There is no runway whatsoever to shake the cobwebs off after an Olympic break of exactly three weeks. The Islanders have six of their first seven games and nine of their first 12 games back on the road. The trade deadline is a week from Friday; the end of the regular season is suddenly in sight, just under seven weeks out. Here are some lingering questions to get you oriented before the restart.
All 32 teams sent at least one player to the Milan Cortina Games, but the Isles were relatively unaffected, with Bo Horvat and Ondrej Palat their only two players to go to Italy.
Horvat played through the gold medal game with Team Canada and hasn’t practiced with the Islanders, though he is expected to play Thursday. Palat, who played on Team Czechia, rejoined the team a couple of days ago.
